….is a great woman. That was from Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby. And while it could not be more true, it could also be taken as very offensive. Who says a woman has to be behind a so-called “Great Man”? See, I think I’m a great man. And yes, I do have great woman “WITH” me, but most definitely not “behind” me. This is the 21st century, and the year is 2023. A woman can be great on her own, and she can lead from the front.
Harriet Tubman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Marie Curie, Queen Elizabeth II – these women had it going on. Did they have a man in front of them? Oh Hell No! I did not know any of these women, but I’m sure they didn’t need to be “behind” anyone.
One of the first posts I made in www.becauseJimsays.com was about men who have influenced me. Men who left a mark. Men who left the world a better place. Men, with whom, the world was a better place because they were in it.
But what about women? Surely there must have been some women that left a lasting impact on our world. Women that did something. Women that wrote something. Women that stood out of the shadows from “behind” men and made their own mark.
So let’s explore some of the women in history that left their own mark. Some you may have heard of, others, maybe not. But that doesn’t lessen the impact they had on this world.
Mary Anderson (1866-1953) was a visionary. Not just a visionary, but I woman that actually wanted to use her vision. But no, she was in a situation where her vision was compromised. It was in the early 1900s and Mary was touring NYC in a trolly car and was annoyed that she was unable to see anything due to rain. She was a lady visiting the city and wanted to enjoy the sights, but the stupid rain was ruining her visit. Mary was a keen observer, and noticed many streetcars would be stopped while the drivers were outside cleaning (or wiping) the windows. That’s where she came up with the idea of a wiper blade that could be operated from the inside by the trolley driver. Her invention was patented in 1903 and as driving became more prevalent, the windshield wiper got many updates to be used in cars. Mary – here’s looking at you, through a nicely cleaned windshield.
Bette Graham (1924 – 1980) wasn’t perfect. Bette made mistakes. I think Bette must have made a lot of mistakes. But she didn’t have to just sit there and take it. Well, actually, Bette mostly sat there. See, Bette was a commercial artist and also somewhat of a typist. In 1951 Bette was the executive secretary for the chairman of the board of a bank in Texas. I assume that back in 1951, making a mistake while typing was a whole thing. Ripping out the page to start over, or hitting the backspace key and trying to mask the mistaken letter (and I assume a bit of cursing was also involved). One day while at her desk, typing I assume, she watched a man paint a storefront across the street and anytime the man made a mistake, he simply painted over it with a matching color paint. At home, she mixed up some paint and brought it in the next day to the office. She made a mistake (on purpose I bet), then whipped out her concoction, painted over the mistake with a small brush, let it airdry and then correctly typed the correct letter in it’s place. Yup, Bette invented “White Out”. But she called it “Mistake Out”. With help from a few others, it was further developed into what became “Liquid Paper”. And in 1979, Bette sold her company to Gillette Corporation for almost $48 million.
*sidenote, it was Bette’s son, Michael Nesmith, who created his own label, combining music to videos, launching “PopClips” on Nickelodeon, which led to the eventual creation of MTV
Margaret Knight (1838 – 1914)got fed up and fought back. Now here’s a woman that not only won’t stand “behind” a man – but she actually had a man talk down to her in court, telling the judge and jury that no “woman” could comprehend the engineering and math that went into creating something that he had taken credit for. Margaret was a worker bee and when she was quite young, she developed a shuttle restraining unit for use in looms while working at a cotton mill. But, Margaret was young and was unaware of the patenting process and received little (if any) compensation for her invention. Fast forward to 1867 and Margaret is now working at the Columbia Paper Bag Company in Springfield Massachusetts. Margaret wanted to create a bag that could be folded by machine into a square bottom. She begin working on a machine that could feed, cut and fold the paper to form this square bottomed bag. One year later, the machine was ready, and this time, she applied for a patent. But, there was an employee at the machine shop where Margaret went to get help on her machine named Charles Annan (from here on known as Crap Weasle) that attempted to steal her design. In court, Crap Weasel, actually argued that “women could not possibly understand the mechanical complexities of the machine”. But Margaret didn’t play that, provided the blueprints of the machine’s design and won the case. She then founded her own bag company, Eastern Paper Bag Company in Hartford Connecticut. Margaret died in 1914 having patented over 25 inventions. Margaret might be the first lady to bitch-slap a guy in court.
Greta Waitz (1953-2011) was an absolute beast. When I began thinking about getting serious about running, Greta was already a force on the world stage. Greta was a Norwegian runner, most famously known for her 9 victories in the New York City Marathon. Born in 1953, with Europe still in recovery from WWII, Greta struggled to get her parents to take her running seriously. But when she qualified for, and ran in the Olympics in Munich on 1972, it was time for her parents to get on board. Greta was dominant on the world distance stage for a over 10 years. She picked her races carefully and didn’t over extend herself. She was a scientist on the course and in training; she knew what pace she wanted to run, and she hit it time and time again. Running and racing is a cat and mouse game. You have to be disciplined to not chase the rabbit, while at the same time not getting too concerned should the rabbit get a big lead. You could say “slow and steady wins the race”, but Greta was not slow. She won her first NYC marathon in 1978 and won her last one in 1988. But in 1979, she became the 1st woman to break 2:30:00 in a marathon (ARE YOU KIDDING ME???). I think I was pretty good in my prime. But to run a marathon under 2:30:00 is upper level, even for a man – but to run that as a woman – seriously?. Greta was smooth and methodical, there was no wasted energy and her form was efficient and flawless. In her younger days, she was a miler (1500 meters) and ran the 3000 as well – and she was also world champion in cross country 5 of 6 years from 1978-1983. Greta is missed in the running world. I remember hearing of her death and was sad, for I remember her wins
Melitta Bentz (1873 – 1950) is someone that we all owe a debt of gratitude to. And I don’t say that lightly. Greta was a housewife and she wanted to make a decent cup of coffee and then not spend 20 minutes cleaning it up. Frustrated with traditional methods in the early 1900s, she experimented with several ideas eventually using blotter paper from her son’s school book and a brass pot, using a nail to punch holes. Melitta was then able to discard the blotter paper, and with it the coffee grounds. She got a patent in 1908. She started her own filter company and worked out of her home with her husband and her 2 sons. She and her company survived WWI and the difficulties it presented with rationing of both metals and paper and rebuilt her business after a lengthy shutdown. When WWII set in, she and her company were forced to once again stop production and support the war effort. Wars aside, Melitta was a worker and a hustler and built something out of nothing just so you and I could enjoy a nice hot fresh cup of coffee.
Is that it? Just these five women? No, that’s not it. There are way more than 5 women that have left such a legacy as to be written about in www.becauseJimsays.com and there are many more to come.
But for now, It’s just these 5 amazing women.
Who’s next?
Stay tuned.
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